With The Oscars 2023 a few days away, everyone seems to be excited about it. Well, are you? Indian-American celebrity Padma Lakshmi is eagerly looking forward to the Academy Awards. So much so that she also posted a special food video on Instagram sharing her feelings about the Oscars. Padma also revealed that she is rooting for Everything Everywhere All At Once actress Michelle Yeoh, the first person who identifies as Asian, nominated for best actress at the Oscars in 2023. A hardcore food enthusiast Padma hopes that Michelle gets the award. In the video, Padma stated that she was thinking about Everything Everywhere All At Once all week. And, in order to honour the film, she decided to cook some drool-worthy fried rice.
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For the caption, she stated, "This one goes out to Michelle Yeoh the whole cast of #EverythingEverywhereAllAtOnce ahead of the Oscars next week— I'm rooting for you!! So I channelled my inner racaccoonie, cleaned out my fridge, and fried up some rice. I haven't been to a Benihana since high school so I'm not exactly making an onion volcano but this is how I like to do it. Everyone has their own favourite version, and if you're new to the game, hopefully gives you a good place to start!"
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Padma added that she cleaned up her fridge and found some vegetables that she will include in the recipe. She also shared certain important cooking tips during the process. According to her, the important thing about fried rice is to make it flavourful and cook it according to your individual taste. Her first tip is to prepare fried rice exactly the way you like it. Padma usually prefers putting a lot of garlic and onion, ginger, hoisin, black vinegar, and maybe some sauces, she added.
Padma Lakshmi's fried rice recipe is yummy and quick to make. Photo Credit: iStock
Ingredients:
Canola oil
Shallots (chopped) – 2-3 tablespoons
Ginger (chopped) - 2-3 tablespoons
Garlic (chopped) - 2-3 tablespoons
Carrots (chopped) – 1 cup
Celery – 1 cup
Soy sauce - 2 tablespoons
Black vinegar - 1 tablespoon
Fermented bean paste - 1 tablespoon
Bell pepper - 1 cup
Pepper – 1 tablespoon
Chile powder - 1 tablespoon
Chile sauce (like sambal) - 1 tablespoon
Hoisin - 1 tablespoon
Sesame oil
Salt
White steamed rice
Here's how Padma Lakshmi prepared indulgent fried rice:
First, Padma Lakshmi heated up some canola oil in a pan. Once, the oil started shimmering, she added aromatics including shallots, ginger and garlic. She then, put chopped carrots into the preparation. While doing so, she mentioned that carrots take longer than the bell pepper, so, Padma will put carrots first, followed by celery. Sharing her second tip, she suggested that you must first put the vegetable which takes the longest to cook. Padma, in the third tip, advised not to use watery vegetables. Even if she'll put mushrooms in the recipe, she'll make sure the mushrooms are pan-roasted properly.
Padma suggested that after the vegetables, you must go slow with these condiments. She put soy sauce, black vinegar, fermented bean paste, bell pepper, pepper, chile powder, chile sauce, and hoisin and lets it cook properly. Finally, she added rice to the preparation. With this step, tip number four included breaking rice lumps gently with your hands.
After this, Padma stated, “This is not traditional anywhere except my house” while putting around 2 tablespoons of butter into the dish. After a while, she tasted the fried rice. After realising that it still lacks a few ingredients, she added a few more tablespoons of everything. Later, in the video, you see her wondering why the fried rice has turned out to be spicy. She then, realises that maybe the excess of chile sauce caused that.
Padma Lakshmi calls her daughter to taste the dish and she likes it.
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